Upside Down

A/N: Here's the next chapter, I hope you guys enjoy and as always feedback is appreciated.

Alex took a deep breath as Steve's house came closer and closer into view. The adrenaline that was once flowing through him freely like blood in his veins when he was performing was now almost completely diminished, and he felt like he'd need it now more than ever. His fight or flight responses were telling him he had to get the hell out of whatever this parallel world was and yet he couldn't just leave now, something was happening at Harrington's house. That blood curdling scream he had heard is what made him head here in the first place. Sure he could've gone to the house without crawling through the tree but there was something wrong with just how abrupt the scream started and stopped. Had it not ended so abruptly he would've gone, but when the hole in the tree started forming he felt that they were somehow connected.

Stepping over some more vines, it didn't take long before his foot hit the smooth pavement of Steve's patio in the backyard. Before he could take another step he paused as a low growling sound filled the dead air. It sounded sorta like a animal and yet different. Something he hasn't heard before that was for sure. Crouching down in order to not be seen and move more quietly, Alex slid his guitar back over and onto his back, holding onto with one hand so it wouldn't slide and hit the patio and make a loud sound. As he began to slowly move over the thick vines which in a way looked more like a veins connected to something much greater than he can imagine, he heard a voice call out once and then it shouted.

"HELLO?"

He could tell by the tone that it was the same person who had screamed and that she was scared. A part of him still felt like this was a dream but he knew it wasn't. A louder growl was heard from the pool as the girl, whomever she was shrieked in horror. As he approached the side of the pool he looked in and saw a girl with red hair wearing a blue jacket and pink top with tannish-brown colored pants at least that's what he could make out, she looked covered in some liquid like ectoplasm or a goo or something, Alex didn't want to imagine the smell. Looking to her right, he noticed this humanoid-esque looking creature which was grey and had to be over 6ft if not close to 7ft tall. It's head, or face reminded him off a Venus fly trap plant if you were to get scissors and cut it into four pieces.

Either way he didn't want to find out how sharp the teeth were or what was in store. 'Eddie wouldn't believe this shit.' Alex thought to himself before thinking of what to do. Laying low he watched as the girl made a run for the pool ladder. As she did the creature just watched her as if it was a predator playing with it's prey. Once the girl began to start climbing the ladder, Alex felt something in him start churning as he knew he'd have to do something. After all this is a dog eat dog world.

Climbing to his feet. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled to get the creatures attention. Turning his guitar around and bringing to the front of him he flipped open and lit the zippo lighter and the creature took a half-step back. 'Afraid of fire?' Alex wondered. He turned to look at the girl as she stared at him for a moment in disbelief before he mouthed for her to continue climbing.

Snapping his attention back to the creature, Alex once again brandished his guitar holding it upright. "HEY FUCKER COME GET ME I'VE GOT THE LOOKS THAT KILL!" Alex shouted and began shaking and stomping his legs to get the creatures attention. The creature let out a growl and began charging towards Alex and in that moment he felt everything slowdown and he felt like this was it and he was prepared to die. Maybe it'd make his dad care after he was dead. Alex gripped the guitar tight and had his finger on the can of hairspray. Just as the creature jumped out of the pool and into the air as if it was going to pounce on him.

He pushed down on the nozzle as a stream of fire propelled out from the headstock and blasted the creature, engulfing it in flames. It shrieked in pain as it fell back into the pool and began to roll around to extinguish itself. 'Nat 20' Alex thought to himself with a smile forming on his face. Looking to where the girl was she was right behind him. Alex grabbed her hand "Start running, I'm not gonna let you go!" He shouted.

He had seen too many horror movies and the tropes of people tripping in the woods or getting separated and he wasn't gonna let that happen. If they both died, then they die. Hell at least if he managed to save this girl he would've in his mind at least done something meaningful with his life. The two of them took off running towards the woods. Alex counted the number of steps, something he did when he'd go running in the early morning before school and they had taken maybe 20 and had just got at least 50 yard from the house before he heard the girl gasp.

"I can't keep running." She panted. Looking back at her, Alex had adrenaline pumping through him and he could easily keep running for another mile and half to two miles.

"Fuck you, you can't you have to!" Alex steadied her so she wouldn't fall "DO YOU WANT TO DIE?" He shouted at her. A loud growl filled the air and that meant one of two things. Either the creature is dead or it's still alive and coming for them.

"NO!" She shrieked. Another growl filled the air. They were at least a football fields' length away from that tree he crawled through. 'It's still alive? FUCK!' Alex's mind was racing as he was mentally starting to panic a bit, sure fire hurts it but it's only temporary at least as far as he could tell. The fog in the woods seemed to have picked up a bit as it was thicker almost impossible to now see just a foot or two in front of you.

"What's your name?" He asked her quietly.

She looked at him with a shocked look on her face as to why he would be asking her that in this current situation. "What?" was all she could squeak out. Alex sighed "I need to know your name in case only one of us makes it out."

"Barb, Barbara Holland."

"I'm-"

"I know who you are Alex Hopper." Barbara cut him off. Second person tonight to do so if he had been counting correctly. Looking into the general direction of Steve's house Alex swore he saw something seem to start cutting through the fog as it disappeared into the surrounding area.

Alex readied himself again, lighting the zippo lighter once more as the flame had gone out once they started running "Barb get behind me. I have no idea what this creature is."

"I don't know but I'm so scared! I just wanna go home!" She whimpered, trying to stay right behind Alex but her hand kept throbbing with pain all the while she was on the verge of a complete breakdown "I need to get stitches on my hand I'm bleeding!"

For some reason something clicked with Alex about this creature. If Barb was sitting by the pool after she had cut her hand and her blood dripped into the water, then whatever this creature is it could smell and track by blood, much like sharks do. Maybe he could trick the creature and get it on a fake trail of blood. "Barb take off your jacket and smear your blood on it!" Alex said quietly.

"What?" Barb whispered before she as well quickly put two and two together. Alex kept lookout, hairspray at the ready to light this thing on fire. He didn't know if this thing was blind or could hear, maybe it had a sixth sense and an impeccable nose for tracking. They've been standing in this spot for too long and Barb had already been dripping blood, too much in one area. The next thought that crossed Alex's mind was if this creature was back into playing with his prey?

Barb wiped her bloodied hand all over her jacket and within seconds they could hear another growl, this one different than before as if it was alerted. Alex grabbed her hand and motioned for her to start running but she stood paralyzed with fear. She mouthed something and instead of turning around immediately Alex took a step towards Barb and tried to act like he didn't hear her with the hope that maybe he could surprise the creature. He could feel it behind him, almost smell it. Deciding the hell with it, Alex turned around and and slammed his finger down on the nozzle of the can of hairspray. As he did a flame erupted but it didn't get far as the creature knocked the guitar out of his hands with such power that caused the guitar to smash against a nearby tree and split in two.

"SAVE YOURSELF BARB!" Alex shouted as the creature growled at him and in one swift motion tackled him to the ground and let out another growl. With his arms pinned under the the grip of the creature, Alex was basically fucked. Being this up close to the creature, it seemed to observe him for a second before letting out another growl in which Alex spit right in it's face/mouth causing it jerk upright.

"FUCK YOU!" Alex shouted at it. Wiggling his legs realized the creature didn't have his legs pinned down and he wasn't sitting on his body either. Deciding to lift his legs up and back, Alex wrapped his legs around the creatures and tried to roll to the right. He wasn't able to get the creature to roll but the creature had to let his arms go to readjust itself, this time it grabbed the sides of Alex's head with it's hands and tried to force him to get his mouth open. The first finger he felt get in range of biting Alex bit down hard causing the creature to recoil in pain but not letting go of Alex with it's other hand. Blood filled his mouth as Alex spit it up in the creatures face. It didn't taste like normal blood, there was no iron taste to it, it just tasted rancid and bitter. The teeth marks on it's finger healed almost instantly.

Letting out another growl, this one different as if it was going in for the kill, Alex had fully accepted he was to die here. Not wanting to see his fate and hoping it'd end quickly he closed his eyes as the creature reared back showing it's rows of teeth in the moonlight, he heard it shriek in pain followed by a bright light which came close to him, he could feel the heat off of it. The weight of the creature fell off him completely as it was on the ground rolling around in pain. Opening his eyes he saw Barb standing over him. She held out her hand and he accepted it, to his surprise she was able to pull him up to his feet with ease which could only mean one thing. She was now running on adrenaline which would allow her to do things she couldn't normally do thanks to the flight or fight response that's hardwired in humans. Not letting go of his hand the two of them took off running towards the tree.

As the light from the creature being on fire soon disappeared, it's shrieking once again turned to a loud growl. Maneuvering around a few trees trying to confuse it on the way to the tree with the hole in it, the two of them covered the distance of what would be 100 yards in a matter of seconds as they were literally running for their lives.

"Just over there!" Alex shouted and pointed as the fog seemed to clear out of the woods. They were so close to getting back home both of their hearts were beating of their chests. Jumping over a few more vines they had finally reached the tree. Alex motioned for Barb to go first "Be fast about it Barb please!" He was almost pleading with her as he wanted to get the fuck out of here just as much as she did. Barb got down on all fours and began crawling into the hole. It wasn't the most pleasant experience for her but she tried to her best to be quick about it. Alex glanced in the direction they just came from and saw nothing.

"I'm clear, hurry up!" Barb's voice echoed through the hole in the tree. Alex got down on all fours and began crawling through the hole, his life literally depended on it. Hearing the sounds of the tree sounding like it was collapsing in on itself, Alex could see the hole to the other side was starting to get smaller. With what strength he had left he picked up his pace and just as he was almost in the clear, he grabbed the outer edge of the hole in the tree just as he felt the creature grab his foot. He looked at Barb as terror filled his eyes and he felt he was about to meet his demise.

"HOLD ON!" Barb shouted as she grabbed Alex's hands and tried to pull him through the hole as it got smaller and smaller. Wiggling his foot, Alex felt his shoe that the creature had grabbed starting to come loose. With the hole closing and running out of time, he wiggled his foot all around and the creature pulled as did Barb. Lurching forward, Alex fell on top of her just as the hole sealed up behind him. Now missing a shoe in the dead of night in November, the two of them didn't move for a moment. They were just so thankful to be back on this side of the world.

Holding onto each other, Barb began to breakdown and cry. "Shh, hey it's okay." Alex said gently, trying to calm her down. He couldn't believe what had just transpired and if he was being honest he was terrified but he knew he had to be strong. "Hey Barb you were amazing back there!" He said as he climbed off her and helped her to her feet.

She wiped her tears from her eyes "If it wasn't for you Alex I think I'd be dead." She exclaimed. If it wasn't for her, he'd be dead.

"Barb if you weren't there, I'd be dead." He admitted, looking back towards Steve's house while it was quite a bit of ways away it was close enough to see and the once decaying, overgrown patio was now clean, illuminated and most likely damp with pool water. Alex took his jacket off and wrapped it around Barb as she stuck her hand in the jacket pocket and tried to wrap it around it to stop the bleeding. "I-I have a car" Barb said as she fumbled for the keys in her pocket. She managed to pull them out and held them up.

Alex took the keys out of her hand "I'll drive you to the hospital"

"Home!" Barb demanded "My mom was a nurse, she can stitch me up. I'll guide you to my house."

He wasn't about to argue with her. Helping her, to her car. As they passed by Steve's house as Barb looked at the second floor of it. She knew Nancy was up there with Steve probably having sex, she shook the thought out of her mind. The only thing on her mind now was getting home safe and sound. Tonight had literally been out of this world and all she wanted to do was get home, get fixed up and go to bed. Alex opened the passenger door and helped Barb get into the car before shutting the door and heading around to the driver side and climbing in. Starting the car up, he turned on the heat as the temperature had dropped drastically. Switching on the headlight, he let out a yawn as the adrenaline was starting to wear off on the both of them.

"Home sweet home it is." He said as he put the car in drive and began following Barb's directions.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, as always feedback is appreciated.